Mountain Spring and
In-Ko-Pah Gorge

Right: Early alignment at the top of Mountain Spring grade. This picture gives an idea of the rugged terrain with which the highway builders had to deal and the narrow and tortuous nature of the old highway. (Photograph courtesy of Caltrans Library.)

Desert Kitsch (Desert View Tower)

The Desert View Tower has long been a landmark for travelers on US 80. This odd four story structure was built by Burt Vaughn in 1922 to honor the pioneers who struggled across the arid desert. Today it houses an interesting museum which features a variety of things best labeled as "Americana." It also has a gift shop where one can purchase their own pieces of Americana. There are some interesting caves to the outside which were carved during the Depression by an out-of-work engineer named W.T. Ratliffe, and like the tower are a tribute to those early pioneers.

Admission to both the tower and the museum is $3 and is worth it if just for the incredible view. Several of the pictures I took that appear in the Mountain Spring Grade section below were taken from the top of the tower.

Below: These photographs show the approach to the Desert View Tower which consist of pristine sections. The sign on the top photograph is advertising for the tower.

Above: The Desert View Tower, long a familiar sight to travelers through Mountain Spring

Mountain Spring Grade: Old and New

The following photographs show the marked difference between the old and new alignment of the highways over the summit with the Desert View Tower in the lower middle. The road from the 1920s has been bisected in several places by the freeway built in 1964, as shown by the picture at right. The old 20' alignment, which is the lighter line forming an "L" in the middle of the stands in stark contrast to the four lane freeway, which is the two lines cutting the page diagonally. The pictures below show the old section of highway pictured at right at surface level. (Aerial photograph courtesy of USGS.)

Left: Another view of the 1940 alignment at the bottom of the Mountain Spring grade. While the curve is very gentle, especially compared with the old road (at left, not visible), the Interstate through this area has curves with over twice the radius, allowing a design speed of 70 MPH.

Mountain Spring Relocation (Late 1930s)

Above: The old routing before improvement in 1938.

First Paved Road

The pictures at left show the first paved road to make the rugged descent from Mountain Spring to the desert floor of the Imperial Valley. The completion of this narrow road represented a quantum leap in the ease of getting from San Diego to points east. Prior roads were little more than Indian paths converted into wagon roads. In fact, one toll road built in the 1850s and replaced by the paved road had slopes up to 30%. 

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